Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca

Hussein bin Ali or Husayn ibn Ali (1852-1931) (حسین بن علی) was the Sharif of Mecca, and Emir of Mecca from 1908 until 1917, when he proclaimed himself king of Hejaz, which received international recognition. In 1924, he further proclaimed himself Caliph of all Muslims. He ruled Hejaz until 1924, when, defeated by Abdul Aziz al Saud, he abdicated the kingdom and other secular titles to his eldest son Ali.

Hussein ibn Ali was born in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey) and was the last of the Hashemite rulers over the Hejaz to be appointed by the Ottoman Empire. Sharif Hussein ibn Ali rebelled against the Ottoman rule during the Arab Revolt of 1916. During World War I, Hussein was initially allied with the Ottomans and Germany. Evidence that the Ottoman government was planning to depose him at the end of the war soured this alliance. An exchange of letters with British High Commissioner McMahon convinced him that his assistance on the side of the Triple Entente would be rewarded by an Arab empire encompassing the entire span between Egypt and Persia, with the exception of imperial possessions and interests in Kuwait, Aden, and the Syrian coast. Hussein was the official leader of the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans.

In the aftermath of the war, the Arabs found themselves freed from the Ottomans but placed under the mandate system of France and the United Kingdom, in which the "liberty" of the inhabitants would be guaranteed by their occupation by European imperial powers. The sons of Hussein were made the kings of Transjordan (later Jordan), Syria and Iraq. However, the monarchy in Syria was abruptly ended when the French were given control over the nation (resulting in much resistance and bloodshed), so his son (Faisal) was installed in Iraq instead.

When Hussein declared himself king of the Hejaz, he also declared himself king of all Arabs (malik bilad-al-arab). This aggravated his conflict with Ibn Saud, with whom he had fought before WWI on the side of the Ottomans in 1910. Two days after the Turkish Caliphate was abolished by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on March 3, 1924, Hussein declared himself Caliph at Mecca. No one took his claim seriously, and he was soon ousted and driven out of Arabia by the Saudis, a rival clan that had no interest in the Caliphate. Saud defeated Hussein in 1924. Hussein continued to use the title of Caliph when living in Transjordan, Caliph of Amman.

Though the British had supported Hussein from the start of the Arab Revolt and the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence, they elected not to help Hussein repel the Saudi attack, which eventually took Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah. He was then forced to flee to Cyprus. He went to live in Amman, Transjordan, where his son Abdullah was king. After his abdication, his son 'Ali briefly assumed the throne, but then he too had to flee the encroachment of Ibn Saud and his Wahhabi forces. Hussein himself died in Amman in 1931. His son Faisal was made King of Iraq.

The Saud Family continue to this day pay compensation to the Hashemite family as they are the "sharifs" of mecca.

Family

Hussein, who had four wives, fathered five sons and three daughters:
*Abdullah, Emir (later King) of Transjordan
*Faisal, King of Iraq
*Prince Zeid, succeeded King Faisal II of Iraq on his assassination in 1958, but never ruled as Iraq became a republic.
*Ali, last King of Hejaz
*Hassa (died young)
*Saleha
*Fatima
*Sara

In the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, Alec Guiness portrayed Prince Faisal, Sharif Hussein's son.